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Monday, 13 March 2017

So things have changed..... I started my blog while being a full-time mum. I had a passion for sewing and spent most mornings at my machine while my babies napped. But of course, children grow out of naps, they get schedules of their own and suddenly you are a glorified chauffeur and life is dictated to by school runs, homework and meal-times!

As you adapt to your new routines, you find there are new pockets of time and you have to decide how to use them. I was already working at The Quilt Shop in Tuam and loving it...... and it was time to take it a little further. While not wanting to give up my time with my family (though they drive me crazy at times) and other commitments, I was excited by what lay ahead for the shop. Thankfully, I have a nice boss who lets us work around our family schedules and so my work hours changed from weekends to school mornings - ideal!

But between us we had a big job ahead....

The TeamUrsula, Karen, Me (Naomi), Eva, Roisin (Owner), Nora, Sandra.

So up until now, the shop has been named The Quilt Shop and while it's a very busy shop locally, based on Shop Street, Tuam in Co. Galway and would be considered one of the premiere quilting shops in Galway for it's stock of patchwork and quilting fabrics, notions, yarn, cross-stitch kits and more...... we were getting regular requests asking when all these gorgeous things would be online! However, it was time to rebrand, to let everyone know that it wasn't just a quilt shop anymore. While Patchwork is where our true love lies, the shop has expanded to stock a gorgeous selection of quality yarn, patterns and all things stitching! And so the shop name changed to "Quilt Yarn Stitch"!

Our New and Improved Logo!

So that was the first major job done, next came the Long-Arm Quilting Machine. That was such a big deal........ being a major purchase, we had to make the right one so we spent a lot of time doing research, getting quotes, organising funding, delivery and training but wow, it was so great to have it finally here and working away. You can often hear the buzz from the machine when you enter the shop..... in fact, passing by on the street, it's normal to see Roisin standing by and working away at the machine. I'm sure passing cars wonder why people stand on the street waving at the upper windows of the shop but it's always a nice distraction for us to see some friendly faces!

Roisin getting to grips with the machine during training!

Speaking of shop windows, they were changed too...... all part of the improvements! This has made for an excellent street view of our gorgeous fabrics and a much warmer shop! Win, Win!

Next up on the list was the website - oh boy, that was fun (not really). We were lucky enough to have a mega team from the very best website building company in the West of Ireland - DMac Media. to charge forward with that one! Roisin knew what she wanted - what functions would help to make the very best webshop in Ireland and they worked their IT magic and made it happen. No request was too large, they never lost patience with our lack of technology skills and they made it all as easy and straightforward as possible.

We spent the next couple of months cataloguing every item in the shop - we needed to list every single fabric from Moda, Makower, Winbourne, Camelot, Stof, Dashwood Studios, Northcott, Blend Fabrics, Art Gallery, Kaffe Fassett, David Textiles............ and so much more.

That was just the beginning. We then had to move on to the yarn - listing the double knit, the 4-ply, the aran, the merino...... not forgetting the notions from Sewline, Hemline, Clover, Prym, Olfa, Creative Grids and more..... then the Gifts, the Patterns, the Ribbon, the Buttons ................... stock seemed to grow as we listed, it seemed we would never get to the end but we did it!

In the midst of this, we held our Annual Sale & our Facebook Sale, classes carried on and we had our little visitors spending time in the shop too, busy as ever!

The busiest days - our annual sale!

Thursday Mornings Class Ladies!

Molly & Kate working on the Rico Craft Kits!

The excitement was palpable the day the website went live! When the first order came in, we excitedly messaged each other - it was working!! Hooray!

Since then we have gone from strength to strength - increasing our stock online and making ourselves known to those in Ireland, the U.K. and beyond. We have become a popular stop for those travelling along the Wild Atlantic Way - bus tours and individuals who can't resist searching for a little something new for their sewing rooms back home. We have a great time with them swapping stories and ideas! And we haven't stopped working to improve Quilt Yarn Stitch - both in the shop, in the classes and online! We're still having fun - how could we not, we are surrounded by pretty fabric and some really amazing people!

The fun continues every day..... there was the day we did some filming for the Local Enterprise Office with Bulabosca Productions....

And of course we always have Sales Reps popping in and tempting us with new goodies all the time... this was Alan from Sirdar. Wait till you see the fantastic yarn we ordered from him, it'll be in stock shortly. I don't even knit and I'm totally in love with it!

If you haven't already - please check out our website www.quiltyarnstitch.com and let us know what you think! We love to hear some constructive feedback and take it all on board! I don't have shares in the business but I love what I do and am excited for it's progress so am eager for it's success!

Ooooh and we still have FREE DELIVERY to Irish addresses and reduced delivery for Europe..........so it's a great time to shop online!

(p.s. if anyone can tell me why my text changes to grey and I can't change it back again, I'd appreciate it) xx